Randall replies and provides overview... first, let me state that I am NOT the one who holds a short position on WIN. I don't currently hold, nor have I ever held, a position in Wi-LAN. And, I don't anticipate taking a share position in the company in the near future.
Nathanc: Sorry about posting a news release in response to your query; at the moment I didn't have time to comment. I'll touch on various products on the market below. I find it interesting that Wi-LAN finally put out a news release on their staff-reduction, and still managed to put a positive spin on it. The bottom line is that there has been low morale within the company and people were laid off or quit on their own. We saw this coming for some time, but the general public was never made aware of the problems and layoffs behind the company, and only now have the layoffs been announced. I am unable to comment about the new corporate management structure since I have no background on their profiles. We have directly and indirectly heard from employees, former employees, and distributors of Wi-LAN, and feelings are mixed. There are a few that are very loyal and "rah-rah" about the company, but those that dislike the company or its products have many things to say.
Poorhouse: I should not have commented about WaveRider since I haven't researched the company yet -- the name was mentioned by colleagues and journalists I work with, and I was drawing from some informal conversations that had passed. There are, however, many real and superior competitors which are making strides in their developments. Wi-LAN has largely had two product lines (Hopper for wireless serial modems, and Hopper Plus for wireless ethernet bridge) for the last few years, and new products have been slow to see the market. Others in the industry are catching up and advancing.
On the note about Wi-LAN listing on the TSE, I haven't ever checked the status, but this probably won't happen for some time due to listing procedures involved. For the most part it appears Wi-LAN meets the listing requirements (see tse.com ). In light of the poor sales performance compared to projected earnings by Wi-LAN, it may be questionable whether any house will underwrite such a listing with present financial woes. Don't even consider NASDAQ, as Wi-LAN doesn't meet the requirements (see nasdaq.com for details) at their current prices.
Wi-LAN Products: Wi-LAN has two lines of products, comprised of their Hopper Plus ethernet bridges and their Hopper wireless modems (serial). Both lines have versions which operate at different frequencies (900 MHz and 2.4 GHz).
Their wireless modems (Hopper) are relatively expensive (US$1100 DSSS, US$1495 DSSS/FH) and provide rather low bandwidth (19.2 kbps full duplex) when you compare to competitor products in a similar price range providing much higher speed and distance. This is largely due to the relatively older technology (5 years is considered old these days) of the Hopper, which is fine for certain SCADA applications at 9600 or 19200 baud, but very slow for PC-to-PC links (which benefit from 38.4, 57.6, 115.2 kbps connections). Also, range is mediocre (10 km direct line-of-sight). For example, compare to FreeWAVE DGR-115, which does 115.2 kbps up to 32 km LOS, costing US$1250. Also, a distributor I spoke with said that the Hopper is so intolerant of interference that it flakes out easily. For instance, it will quickly jam if a FreeWAVE or other wireless modem is used nearby, while the FreeWAVE continues to function with interference. Also, use of multiple Hoppers to establish multiple isolated links in the same workspace quickly proves the Hopper to be useless (due to jamming itself), while competitor products suffer only a small tax on throughput when multiple same-brand or other-brand units are used.
Having said that, I do believe their Hopper Plus (ethernet bridge) line offers some redeeming qualities, at least based on their functional claims. They have a T1-speed (1.5 Mbps) ethernet bridge in the 900 MHz range for US$2895, but its range is limited to 9.5 km. One competitor is Inficom Infilink T1, which achieves 16 km LOS, 1.5 Mbps, for US$2995. Wi-LAN also has three Hopper Plus models in the 2.4 GHz range (E1 = 2 Mbps, 2T1 = 3 Mbps, and 3T1 = 4.5 Mbps speeds), although I didn't get prices for those. However, check out Aironet's BR500-E, which can communicate at 11 Mbps and up to 25 km distances, costing only $3311.95 through one distributor I located. I'm not sure if the Hopper Plus suffers from the same jamming problems which plague the Hopper. The market for wireless ethernet is big and growing, however, and if the Hopper Plus is a solid product, it could do okay as long as competitors don't beat Wi-LAN in pricing and product development. Oh, also, one ex-distributor of the Hopper Plus told me it is a "big hunk of metal", in reference to the 13"x8.3"x3.2" metal box, compared to the enclosures of competitor products.
Wi-LAN is working on OFDM products which would provide new high-speed data communications links. However, they are still in R&D with OFDM, and time-to-market for such a product will be some time away (no matter what they claim).
Bottom line is, they are relying on the money they raised from the IPO, plus poorer-than-expected revenues, to drive the company into the future. I only fear that the financial backing may start to dry up before they have anything new which could actually bring positive income into the company.
---------- Table 1
A _SMALL_ list/comparison of wireless modems/bridges -- by no means comprehensive. Only 8 of the companies which caught my eye are listed, of probably 50-100 competitors with similar products.
Wi-LAN Hopper (10 km, 19.2 kbps, full duplex), $1100 (DS), $1495 (FD)
Wi-LAN Hopper Plus (9.5 km, 1.45 Mbps, full duplex), $2895
Aironet BR500-E (25 km, 11 Mbps, full duplex), $3311.95
Data-Linc SRM6000 (30-48 km, 115.2 kbps, full duplex), $1775
FreeWave DGR-115 (32 km, 115.2 kbps, full duplex), $1250
Microhard MRX-900 (30 km, 115.2 kbps, full duplex), $995
GRE GINA 6000NVK (19 km, 64 kbps, full duplex), $1679
Inficom Infilink T1 (16 km, 1.544 Mbps full duplex), $2995
Utilicom LongRanger (50 km, 256 kbps full duplex), $2550
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Randall |
